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Food aid aystem 'needs an overhaul'

The cost of addressing the effects of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa "has soared to $2.5 billion, just to keep malnourished children alive, and the number of people requiring humanitarian aid has doubled" since "November last year, when it would have cost $500 million to prevent the situation from deteriorating," Jo Khinmaung, a food security policy adviser for Tearfund, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

23 Aug 2011

UNHCR reports 10 children dying daily and women facing risk of rape in Ethiopian refugee camps

"Ten Somali children under the age of five are dying every day of hunger-related causes in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, according to the U.N. refugee agency," the Guardian reports.

18 Aug 2011

Disease outbreaks, looting hampering relief efforts in Somalia famine

"Outbreaks of measles and cholera are striking down Somali children already weakened by hunger, resulting in dozens of new fatalities," the Guardian reports (Rice, 8/13).

16 Aug 2011

Higher protein intake helps postmenopausal obese women lose more weight

Dieting postmenopausal women who want to avoid losing muscle as they lose fat should pay attention to a new University of Illinois study. Adding protein throughout the day not only holds hunger pangs at bay so that dieters lose more weight, it keeps body composition-the amount of fat relative to muscle-in better proportion.

11 Aug 2011

Fertile Guatemala faces starvation as subsistence crops fail

Despite its status as "the world's fifth largest exporter of sugar, coffee and bananas," Guatemala "has the highest rate of child malnutrition in Latin America," with "half of all children under five" reportedly malnourished, Agence France-Presse reports.

11 Aug 2011

Members of U.S. delegation to Horn of Africa discuss response efforts

The August 8 visit of a U.S. delegation to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa "was important in terms of shedding light on the important efforts that are under way and the importance of continued support from the international community," Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Eric Schwartz said on Tuesday during a briefing on the trip, IIP Digital reports.

11 Aug 2011

Nesfatin-1 protein may help reduce body weight and blood sugar

A newly-identified protein may hold the key to keeping appetite and blood sugar in check, according to a study by York University researchers.

10 Aug 2011

Seattle Times examines Gates Foundation's efforts to enhance vitamins in crops for Africans

The Seattle Times on Sunday examined efforts by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "to boost the levels of vitamins and minerals in crops many Africans rely on for the bulk of their diets."

9 Aug 2011

Lexicon's second quarter revenues decrease 55% to $0.6 million

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing breakthrough treatments for human disease, today updated its drug development progress and reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.

9 Aug 2011

Guardian features fact pages on MDGs

The Guardian on Friday published fact pages on the eight Millennium Development Goals.

8 Aug 2011

Unigene second quarter revenue decreases to $2.5 million

Unigene Laboratories, Inc. a leader in the design, delivery, manufacture and development of peptide-based therapeutics announced second quarter financial results for the period ended June 30, 2011. The Company highlighted significant progress achieved in the second quarter with the continued execution of its turnaround strategy.

8 Aug 2011

Feed the future working to improve drought resiliency

Food insecurity in the Horn of Africa "is driven by cyclical drought, poor land management practices, limited availability of animal health services, food inflation, conflict over land and water, poor hygiene practices, and lack of dietary diversity," Paul Weisenfeld, assistant to the administrator, Bureau of Food Security at USAID, writes in the agency's "IMPACTblog."

5 Aug 2011

State roundup: Windfall for Mass. hospitals

Hospitals in Massachusetts will reap an annual windfall of $275 million due to a loophole enshrined in the new health care law. Hospitals in most other states will get less money as a result.

5 Aug 2011

'Political resolve' needed to end world hunger

"[A]s the worst drought in 60 years again devastates the Horn of Africa, throwing as many as 12 million into desperate hunger … there are hopeful signs that today's drought need not result in the tens of thousands of deaths that we saw in earlier decades," World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran writes in the Reuters blog "The Great Debate."

4 Aug 2011

Nacolepsy drugs may be effective in reversing illness-induced lethargy

A signaling system in the brain previously shown to regulate sleep is also responsible for inducing lethargy during illness, according to research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

4 Aug 2011

Vampire bats can smell blood-rich prey: Study

In the labs of University of California, San Francisco and from the wilds of Venezuela scientists have discovered how vampire bats have evolved over the years with a unique weapon that enables them to zero in for a ravenous feed on the warmest blood vessels of their prey.

4 Aug 2011

Famine will spread in Somalia unless 'massive' response mounted, U.N. says

The drought and hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa is getting worse, and unless there is "a massive increase in the response, the famine will spread to five or six more regions" in Somalia, Valerie Amos, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters on Monday, Reuters reports.

3 Aug 2011

Autophagy research offers clues to new weight loss treatment

According to a new study when the body is starved brain cells along with other parts of the body begin to eat themselves. The body responds by producing fatty acids, which turn up the hunger signal in the brain and increase the impulse to eat.

3 Aug 2011

Weight-loss programs a waste of time: Expert opinion

According to obesity expert and University of Melbourne professor of medicine Joseph Proietto the high failure rate of weight-loss programs could be explained by growing evidence that an obese person’s body is programmed to regain any weight that is lost. He said that authorities are wasting money on campaigns urging people to exercise and eat healthy food since obesity is “''physiologically defended”.

31 Jul 2011

U.N. says crisis in southern Somalia will worsen through 2011

The "crisis in southern Somalia is expected to continue to worsen through 2011, with all areas of the south slipping into famine," according to a report for countries sending aid to the region that was published by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Reuters reports.

30 Jul 2011